Easy Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
Make shepherds pies with no crust for a dinner party or weeknight meal. Use ground beef or lamb, frozen vegetables, and prepared mashed potatoes for this quick main dish casserole recipe, also known as cottage pie.
Shepherd’s pie is ideal for serving family or hosting guests for a St. Patrick’s day party or an Irish themed dinner party. This recipe is comfort food at its best, and is full of flavor.
To add a twist to your entertaining, prepare the recipe in mini baking dishes for individual servings. Otherwise, you can just put the ingredients into a large baking dish and cook for about 30 minutes.
Helpful Tips
- In a casserole dish you can get about 6 servings, but if you use the individual bakers it will fill 4 of them. Double the recipe if you need to feed more.
- This recipe uses shortcuts to save time, like refrigerated prepared mashed potatoes and frozen vegetables. I strongly suggest using Bob Evans Original or Homestyle mashed potatoes.
- You can assemble it ahead and bake it when guests arrive. Let it cook while you sip a cocktail or eat an appetizer.
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Ingredient Notes
- Ground Meat. Ground lamb is used in the traditional Irish recipe, but we mostly use ground beef, which is technically a cottage pie. Use whichever one you prefer.
- Carrots and Peas. I use a bag of frozen carrots and peas mix, but you can buy them separately too. Make sure they are mostly thawed so they cook up tender in the dish. They will partially cook in the skillet with the meat, and again in the oven, but that may not be enough time for them to fully soften if used frozen.
- Beefy Mushroom Soup. This is a great shortcut ingredient that adds flavor and saves time.
- Mashed Potatoes. Here’s where you can save lots of time and effort! Use a container of refrigerated real mashed potatoes. I like the Bob Evans brand. They taste like homemade and you get about 2 ½ cups worth in the regular size. Grab the family size if it’s available, for more servings (3 ½ to 4 cups).
How to Make It
- Prepare the filling. Cook the onions and ground meat in a skillet until it’s cooked through and no longer pink. You’ll add some salt to season the meat while it cooks because ground meat can be very bland otherwise. Add the remaining filling ingredients and cook together.
- Assemble. Add the meat filling to a large casserole dish, or divide into four baking dishes equally, then spread a layer of mashed potatoes on top. TIP: Use a large spoon to dollop potatoes on top, and then gently spread the potatoes together. This way you don’t disturb the filling underneath.
- Bake. Cook in the oven until heated through, about 30 minutes for a casserole dish, or 20 minutes for individual servings.
FAQ’S
Traditional shepherd’s pie gets its origins from the UK and Ireland, and is made with ground lamb or mutton. A topping of mashed potatoes is standard but the additional flavorings can vary from recipe to recipe. So to be precise these are actually “cottage pies” since they’re made with ground beef.
You can prepare the fillings and layer everything in the baking dishes ahead of time. Just cover with aluminum foil and store in the refrigerator.
When ready, pull them out of the fridge and place them in a cold oven. THEN turn the oven on so the ceramic dish warms up with the oven. Otherwise, taking the cold dish to a hot oven can result in a broken dish!
You can freeze shepherd’s pie. Once assembled, wrap it tightly with a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil. It should keep well in the freezer for several months.
Thaw in the refrigerator before baking it.
Serving Suggestions
Make it for a themed dinner party for St. Patrick’s day, and include an Irish beer like Guinness to wash it down. As you welcome guests, serve them a St. Patrick’s day cocktail while waiting for dinner to cook in the oven.
Provide crusty bread or Irish soda bread, and a green and orange salad. Round out the meal with another vegetable like roasted broccoli or sauteed brussels sprouts with bacon, if you feel like you need to add more food.
For dessert, serve a rustic apple galette or berry galette in keeping with the Irish theme.
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Individual Mini Shepherd's Pies Recipe
These mini shepherd's pies are a quick and easy weeknight meal. They're especially great for St. Patrick's day dinner!
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium size onion, diced
- 1 pound ground beef or lamb
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 (10.5 ounce) can Beefy Mushroom soup
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1 cup frozen carrots, thawed
Topping
- 4 cups prepared mashed potatoes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Add the oil to a large skillet over low-medium heat and add the onion. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onion starts to turn translucent and soften.
- Turn the heat to low and add the ground meat and salt, stirring often to make sure the meat is broken up and cooked all the way through. Drain excess fat.
- Add soup and cornstarch to beef and continue cooking on high until it reaches a boil. Cook for about 2 minutes while stirring; reduce to low until thickened.
- Add peas, carrots and Worcestershire sauce to meat mixture, and combine well.
- Divide the meat mixture evenly among four (6 to 8-ounce) baking ramekins or baking dishes. Top with mashed potatoes and smooth out the top.
- Bake for about 20 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
You can also place ingredients in a 2 quart casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes.
I gather you don’t reconstitute the soup first? Looks so yummy!
That’s right, Mary. You don’t want it to be runny when it’s all mixed together.
Hmm i cant find beefy mushroom soup… help please 🙂
Rebecca it should be readily available in the soup aisle. If not, do a quick google search and buy online.
Great idea! I’ve never made or eaten these but I bet the fam would gobble them up!
I think they would too, Tori. Hope you give them a try!